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Charles Victor Szasz (New Earth)
Recently, The Question assumed the role the protector of Gotham City while Batman disappears for one whole year. 52 His first act is removing the bat symbol sticker from the Bat-Signal and spray painting a giant question mark in its place. However, he then shines it on Renee Montoya's apartment building, apparently trying to get her attention rather than simply assert that he is replacing Batman. About three days later, he enters Montoya's apartment briefly in the evening, and leaves an address: 520 Kane Street. The next night, when Renee visits the location, he appears suddenly and hires Montoya to watch an abandoned building located there for "two hundred dollars a day, plus expenses". He then implies that it will be used by a third party and disappears a cloud of smoke. Two weeks and one night later, the Question's suspicions prove accurate when a large, strange, humanoid creature enters the building. Renee enters and the Question follows her. They soon fall through the ground level to find the creature moving crates in the basement. A confrontation between the two of them and the creature ensues. The Question does well to hold off the beast, at one point briefly psychoanalyzing it to the creature's confusion, until a crate full of strange gun-like devices breaks apart and Renee fires one at the creature, vaporizing it. After traveling to Kahndaq with Montoya to investigate Intergang dealings there, the pair were able to prevent a suicide bombing during Black Adam and Isis's wedding, an action that earned him the Order of the Crescent. Having returned to Gotham City, the Question discovered that he was suffering from a debilitating illness. Montoya immediately had him hospitalized and watched over him day and night. She discovered that the Himilayan city of Nanda Parbat possessed mystical properties which might serve to save Victor's life. She took it upon herself to bring the Question to the mountains of Nanda Parbat, but she was too late. After suffering through great discomfort and hardship, Victor Sage passed away. The Question actually died off-panel following the events of 52 #38. His death was revealed in 52 #41 | Powers = | Abilities = | Strength = | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = * The Question was featured in Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again as a right-wing, anti-government conspirator. This version of Sage - a nod to Ditko and Alan Moore is Randian and preachy, at one point going on television for a series of humorous "Crossfire"-style exchanges with the liberal archer Green Arrow. Additionally, he is shown as a technophobe monitoring the dark conspiracy Batman and his allies must face. | Trivia = The Question in other media * The Question has been a major recurring character in the animated television series Justice League Unlimited, with his voice performed by Jeffrey Combs, and in that time has become one of the series' most popular characters - this renewed popularity and interest in the character are likely contributors to his return to the spotlight in current comics. Similarities to other comic book characters * While Charlton's version of The Question laid pretty much dormant for more than a decade, it helped inspire one of the most unforgettable anti-heroes in comic book history. :In the mid 1980s, renowned writer Alan Moore had intended to devote a mini-series to the Charlton characters recently purchased by DC Comics, thrusting them into actual Cold War history -- Hiroshima, Cuba, Vietnam, Nixon, etc. -- and the geo-political and social context of a world where costumed heroes had actually existed in real life, as they did in the comics, since the Depression. :DC liked the idea, but had its own plans for the Charlton stable. So Moore went back and created protagonists patterned after the Charlton "Action Heroes" of the 1960s. The Question became Rorschach, a merciless trenchcoat-and-fedora-clad vigilante who takes moral absolutism to its most violent extreme. Rorschach was widely regarded as the standout character in the classic comic book series Watchmen, created by Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. * Question (Volume 1) #17 had Vic Sage read Watchmen; He initially sees Rorschach as being quite cool, but gets beaten up after trying to emulate his brutal style of justice. He concludes that 'Rorschach sucks'. Live Journal * Interestingly, the Question's specialized belt-buckle is similar to that of the Spider-Man villain Chameleon. In his initial appearances, which were drawn by Ditko, the Chameleon had used a device in a belt buckle which emitted a transformation-enhancing gas. It is possible that Ditko used that as inspiration for the Question. | CustomSection1 = Recommended Readings | CustomText1 = * Question (Volume 1) * Question (Volume 2) | Links = * LadyShiva and The Question including page scans * }}